A new project on small nuclear reactors may be developed in Romania, but this time several European companies are involved. President Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday that he had concluded a Memorandum of Understanding in Belgium for the technology of fast neutron reactors (LFRs) cooled by molten lead. It will be added to the project on modular mini-reactors (SMR), which will be built in Deutschland – the innovative technology of the Americans from NuScale. It is worth noting that Nuclearelectrica is absent in the new project, but another Romanian organization is present.

This project (LFR) is actually based on the older, from 2011 – the ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor Demonstrator) project, in which ANSALDO (Italy), the Institute for Nuclear Research (Romania) and ENEA (Italy) participated and aimed at the construction of a reactor 100 MWh lead-cooled fourth generation on the Mioveni platform.

Who is involved in the new project on small reactors

A memorandum of understanding on the development of small and modular lead-cooled fast reactors (SMR-LFR) was concluded between the following entities working in the field of nuclear energy:

• RATEN (Autonomous Directorate of Nuclear Energy Technologies – from Mioveni, Argesh);
• ANSALDO NUCLEARE SPA (Genoa, Italy);
• ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) – partners of the FALCON consortium;
• SCK CEN (Nuclear Energy Research Center – Mol, Belgium);
• WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY LLC (from Delaware, USA);
• two other players with experience in the technology of fast reactors with lead cooling (LFR technology / (Lead-cooled Fast Reactor).

The Romanian electricity producer Nuclearelectrica is not included in this project.

The signing of this document took place after the meeting of the President of Romania with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium and completes the economic and scientific and technical dimension of the cooperation of the President with the Prime Minister and His Majesty Philippe, King of the Belgians, according to the press release of the President.

What does a memorandum of understanding mean?

The document is the basis for negotiations on a future cooperation agreement to accelerate the development of this technology to a level of maturity that will allow the commercialization of reactors with improved safety characteristics, competitive from an economic point of view and that will facilitate the transition to a clean energy system.

Phased demonstration of LFR technology will require the construction and operation of experimental support facilities and demonstration reactors. The ALFRED (Advanced LFR European Demonstrator) and the experimental infrastructure on the platform of the Institute for Nuclear Research in Pitesti – Mioveni (with ATHENA and CHEMLAB facilities – under construction and four others under contract through the POCIDIF program) represent the key steps taken into account within of this memorandum and the future partnership, thus placing Romania at the forefront of the development of new generation nuclear technologies, the press release also states.

Information about the involved companies

Through the MYRRHA SCK project, CEN is actively engaged in nuclear research and development in the fields of heavy liquid metals (HLM), components, system design, licensing support, testing, safety analysis. SCK CEN manages the relevant experimental infrastructure specifically dedicated to the research and technological development of MYRRHA, and subsequently other HLM systems.

RATEN is a national company in Romania responsible for research and development in the field of nuclear energy and the main technical and scientific support of the national nuclear program, which carries out activities in the field of reactor physics and safety, nuclear fuel, radioactive waste management, development of innovative systems, design and CANDU NPP design, materials and nuclear fuel testing.

WESTINGHOUSE is a global leader in nuclear power plant technology innovation, nuclear fuel design and manufacturing, engineering, licensing, plant support services and many other activities to support the operation of various types of light water reactors (LWRs) and is developing LFR technology as the next generation of large NPPs power

ANSALDO NUCLEARE is a European leader in nuclear research, design and LFR technology, developing innovative nuclear power plants with improved safety features and economic improvements for power generation in order to reduce the radioactive waste generated by the plants.

ENEA is a leader in nuclear research, especially in the field of heavy liquid metals (HLM), research and development, exploration and testing of new technologies, design and testing of components and systems, LFR core design and safety analysis. ENEA owns and manages relevant experimental infrastructures specifically dedicated to research and technological development of HLM systems.

RATEN, ANSALDO NUCLEARE and ENEA are members of the FALCON consortium contributing to the European Advanced LFR / ALFRED Demonstrator.

A new project, a rival to the NuScale mini-reactors?

We remind you that Romania also participates in a joint project with the Americans from NuScale on the development of small modular reactors (SMR), which are an innovative technology.

Currently, the project company for the development of the SMR plant in Romania, RoPower, is carrying out the first phase of the FEED study, starting in January 2023, which consists of a series of initial engineering and design works and studies, a technical analysis of the location of the former power plant in Deutschland, a schedule assessment and specific project costs in Romania, Nuclearelectrica also shows.

RoPower is a project company founded by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas (part of the E-Infra group).

Also in August 2023, the National Nuclear Regulatory Commission (CNCAN) approved the Licensing Basic Document (LBD) for the NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) nuclear power plant with a total installed capacity of 462 MW (6 modules, each with an installed capacity of 77 MW per module).

The first modular reactor in the Doicesti SMR plant project is scheduled to be commissioned and connected to the national power grid at the end of this decade, but a detailed schedule will be developed after the completion of preliminary studies (FEED) by the project company – RoPower.

America’s Scale Power was recently embroiled in a scandal after a series of serious allegations were made by financial analyst firm Iceberg Research that they had entered into a controversial contract worth approximately $37 billion with the company. “fake client” of Standard Power for the development of 1,848 MW of energy production capacity.

Photo source: Nuclear Energy Agency